In the last few weeks, NASCAR has made a turn in a direction that many fans probably never thought they’d see. Though tuning right isn’t something NASCAR fans see much of unless it’s a road course, this turn is entirely different from an entirely different machine. iRacing has been around for the past twelve years and it is very competitive; however, this is the first time that virtual racing has taken the forefront of NASCAR. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 NASCAR season was forced to take a hiatus until it was safe to get back to racing. Until then, NASCAR has switched from on the track action to the NASCAR simulator known as iRacing. iRacing was developed by Motorsports dot com in 2008 and many fans of motor sports have become drivers since it’s release. So far, NASCAR has run two televised races consisting of the Pro Invitational Dixie Vodka 150 at Homestead that Denny Hamlin won, and the Food City Showdown at Bristol that William Byron won. The next eNASCAR iRacing event will take place at Richmond Motor Speedway this Sunday April 19th at 10am Pacific standard time/1pm Easter standard time on FOX. The event will be called the Toyota Owners 150 Presented by Toyota.
Since the NASCAR season has come to a halt, iRacing has really stepped in and has given the fans something to watch and has given the drivers something to compete in. Though many fans or drivers may have mixed thoughts on iRacing, the big picture is at least there’s something and NASCAR isn’t completely gone in this tough time. Unfortunately for other sports, it isn’t easy to get something as a substitute since “stick and ball sports” require more movement than driving. This certainly doesn’t mean that drivers aren’t athletes, because they must stay in shape for what they do, it just means that you can’t virtually play football, soccer, baseball, basketball, or hockey with your body but you can in fact drive. Yes, video game versions of every one of those sports exists; however, it wouldn’t nearly be the same result for athletes playing with controllers rather than in real life. For iRacing, though the simulator isn’t one hundred percent the same thing being as behind the wheel of a stock car, it’s much more realistic for drivers to compete in it rather than stick and ball athletes playing their sport using controllers.
All in all, iRacing have given race fans and drivers something to enjoy during this tough time and so far, it’s been a lot of fun.
Blog by: Larry B.
Image Source: https://www.iracing.com/overview/history/iracing-logo/
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